Oklahoma has been blessed with several All-America worthy tight ends in its history -- the names Keith Jackson, Jermaine Gresham and Mark Andrews come immediately to mind -- but in recent years, it has been more of a lost position in the Sooner offense.
The tight end position serves a hybrid role in a football offense. It combines the role of an offensive line with that of a receiver. The past two seasons, the Sooners have gotten little production from tight ends in either of those two roles.
That should dramatically change this season. Oklahoma went to the transfer portal and brought in a couple of seasoned tight ends in Hayden Hansen from Florida and Rocky Beers from Colorado State. The Sooners also added Jack Van Dorselaer, who was a true freshman last season at Tennessee, along with two freshmen tight ends, Tyler Ruxer and Ryder Mix, as part of their 2026 recruiting class.
Hansen and Beers will be battling it out for the starting role in fall training camp, which began last week. Hansen is entering his fifth college season and Beers his sixth, which definitely gives the Sooners veteran leadership in the tight-end room, something that has been missing the past couple of years. Plus, Hansen and Van Dorselaer bring valuable SEC experience.
Hansen played four seasons at Florida. Last season, he started all 12 games for the Gators and caught a career-best 30 passes for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 30 catches were double what he logged the season before and the third-most on the team a year ago.
The former Florida Gator brings a big frame to the position at nearly 6-foot-8 and 269 pounds, and was Brent Venables' first pickup in the Sooners' 2026 transfer class. Because of his physical attributes, Hansen will mostly be used as an extra blocker, especially on running plays, but his size also makes him a giant receiving target in the red zone.
Star running back and former Florida teammate Jordan Baugh described Hansen as a relentless competitor who refuses to back down during SEC Media Days.
Van Dorselaer played in all 13 games for Tennessee last season but made just five receptions, one of which was for a touchdown. Sooner fans may recall Van Dorselaer dropping a critical fourth-down pass deep in OU territory in the fourth quarter to thwart a potential scoring drive and turn the ball over on downs in Oklahoma's 33-27 victory last season on the road at Tennessee.
Read more: How Oklahoma’s transfer moves signal a new identity on offense in 2026
Oklahoma is the fourth college stop for Beers, who is the brother of former three-time Sooner All-American women's basketball player Raegan Beers. Before transferring to Colorado State, he spent a couple of years at Florida International and two before that at Air Force.
Beers caught 31 passes last season at Colorado State for 388 yards and seven touchdowns, which was a school record for a tight end.
Jason Witten vital in reviving Oklahoma at tight end
Oklahoma didn't just revamp the player talent at the tight-end spot. The Sooners brought in a new position coach to oversee and lead the entire process. Former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro tight end Jason Witten was hired in January to replace Joe Jon Finley, and Witten's hire was a big reason for the Sooners' offseason success in replenishing and revitalizing the position.
For the past couple of seasons, Oklahoma's ability to run the football effectively and with reasonable consistency has been well below the Sooners' historic standards. Last season alone, OU ranked 113th out of 1346 FBS teams in average rushing yards per game (118.4).
The Oklahoma offensive line received much of the criticism for the Sooners' inability last season to mount an effective running game. Former Sooner All-American Adrian Peterson chimed in recently, saying the Sooner running backs need to be more accountable and deliver better production than they did last season.
Read more: Adrian Peterson puts Oklahoma's running backs on notice before 2026
Injuries and no-shows (aka Jaydn Ott) in the running back rotation last season severely hampered the Oklahoma rushing attack, but lack of consistent blocking support up front and on the edges further exacerbated the rushing performance. What the Sooners have added at the tight end spot in size, skill and experience should have a big impact on the OU run game in 2026.
"Offensively, they're so much bigger at tight end," said On3's J.D. Pickell recently on his "Hard Count" podcast. "I think they have two or three guys 6-5, 260. Being able to secure the edge in the run game feels like a massive deal. They had zero tight ends in that department of size a season ago. I think the overall push upfront will just be night and day different."
That difference might just be what determines if Oklahoma is able to secure a second straight College Football Playoff appearance this season... or not.
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